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Still, it was a nice day and he looked forward to taking his meal outside with the others. He was slowly feeling more a part of this close-knit group. There had been none of the same camaraderie at the large E.R. he’d left. The staff had come and gone with too much regularity. Golden Shores was slowly turning into a place he could belong. To make life even better, he’d just received a much-awaited phone call that his boat had arrived. Sailing topped his agenda for his next day off.
Payton stepped out into the bright sunshine and breathed deeply. He felt better just by being in it. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever done anything like have lunch with co-workers, other than grabbing something from the machine on the way through the snack room. He wanted to live differently and this certainly qualified. There would have been no “Let’s go out back to eat” if he was still in Chicago.
“Hey, Payton, we saved you a spot.” Jean shifted around on the cement bench, giving him a place to sit. Doris sat next to her and moving around the table was Luke and beside him China. As he maneuvered his leg under the table his knee hit China’s leg. Her gaze jerked to his before she lowered her gaze and pulled her leg out of contact with his.
He glanced at her lunch. She had a sandwich and raw vegetables. At least she didn’t have one of those nasty prepackaged microwave meals with all the preservatives. When she noticed his interest, she moved her meal more squarely in front of her but didn’t meet his look. He couldn’t help but grin. She was self-conscious.
“We’ve been asked to cover the medical tent at the concert Saturday night. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you more notice. I only do what the higher-ups ask. For your trouble you will all be awarded the next day off.”
Everyone but him groaned.
“It’s Sunday. That’s our day off anyway,” Luke said.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that.” Jean smiled. “Our shift will be from eight until.”
“Until?” Payton asked.
“Until it’s over,” everyone, including China, said in unison.
“Where’s the venue?” Payton asked.
“On the beach near the state park. They put up a large stage and in comes the crowd,” Luke offered between bites of sandwich.
“How do they charge and control the crowd?”
“Don’t. This one is to encourage tourism around the Gulf area to help the economy after the tornado that came through last spring,” Luke said.
Payton remembered it. He’d seen a little of the TV reporting when he’d been in the hospital, recovering from pneumonia.
“People are bused in from parking lots out of town. It’s a big deal. And a lot of fun.”
Jean held up a hand. “Now that Luke has given us an enthusiastic overview of the event we need to get down to the medical particulars. We should expect the usual. Too much to drink, falls, turned ankles, the occasional black eyes from hands being slung during dancing. I’ve already spoken to Larry. He and Robin will take the early shift.”
She looked at Payton then China. “You two will have the late shift. You’ll need to be at the tent no later than nine o’clock and stay to see that the tent is dismantled. That means bringing everything back here afterwards. Remember I said you get the next day off.” She gave them a bright smile. “Doris and I will be splitting up to help with the paperwork. Let’s plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
* * *
China had always enjoyed working the concerts. She loved music and it was a great way to enjoy some of the best. The artists were world class and they were giving of themselves to help others.
An hour before she’d been assigned to arrive she stepped off the hospital shuttle bus. She’d left her car parked behind the clinic. China headed for the area where the medical tent was located. The warm-up act was already on the stage and the noise level was rising. Crossing the section of the beach highway that had been closed, she made her way to the entrance gate and showed her badge. As she walked, she passed food venders, T-shirts sellers and trinket hawkers. The excitement and intensity in the atmosphere grew the closer she moved to the stage. The medical tent had been stationed on a concrete area with easy access to the road in case an ambulance was needed and just far enough away from the major activity that it was easy enough to talk without shouting too much.
Larry and Robin were seeing to a patient as she entered. To her surprise, Payton was already there. He wore a polo shirt that hung loosely from his broad shoulders across his chest and a pair of tailored khaki shorts that made her think of preppy men and tennis matches. This was no T-shirt with a slogan and slouchy pants kind of guy, the kind she tended to notice. If she had to pick a word for Payton’s looks it would be classy and they had an appeal.
Her familiarity with guys like him was little to none. No wonder Payton seemed to rub her the wrong way so easily. She had no concept of his kind of guy, didn’t know how to react to him. As long as he kept his criticism to himself, she found he had some positive qualities.
Payton was patiently putting a small bandage on the moving target of a two-year-old girl’s finger. The mom was blissfully watching Payton, not her child. He seemed oblivious to the woman’s admiration.
China had to admit it made an almost Norman Rockwell moment. Payton’s dark head, leaning over the little girl’s blonde curls, had her wondering if he’d ever thought about being a father. He was good with kids.
Had he ever gone skimboarding? The boy had returned to have his stitches removed but she’d been with another patient and didn’t know if they had really made plans. Not wanting to step over the line into personal space, she’d not asked. It was unlike her to be standoffish but every time she and Payton moved beyond the professional—Jean’s birthday was the biggest example—things got too personal. Too uncomfortable. Payton seemed to be from the same mold as her father. She wanted no part of that.
Anyway, he was just another co-worker, and tonight he was more so as they would be partners.
Larry and Robin were still seeing to a patient when Payton finished.
“You’re certainly here early,” China remarked.
“Yeah. I wanted to see what was going on. I’ve never been to a concert on the beach. There really is a crowd.”
“Yes, there is. I never did things like this either.”
“Why? You live right here.”
“I was too busy doing other things.”
Cooking, cleaning, washing clothes. It had needed to be done and she had been the one to do it. Her mom had been locked in her grief over not knowing where her brother was to the point she hadn’t been able to function.
Payton glanced around the tent. “I haven’t had a chance to look around. We’re not busy now and Larry and Robin are here for another thirty minutes so how about you give me a tour?”
“You go on. They...” she nodded to the others “...may need help.”
“Come on, China. Quit making excuses. I’m not going to bite.”
She huffed. “I know that.”
“So have mercy on the new guy and show me around.”
Not wanting to cause a further scene, China nodded her agreement.
“Even though you’re not on the clock yet, carry a radio in case we need you,” Jean said, from where she
sat at a small table with a laptop.
Payton took the radio she offered.
China headed out of the tent. Why did he always manage to goad her into doing something she wasn’t sure she wanted to do?
She circled and weaved behind the back of the throng toward the ocean.
“Hey, wait up,” Payton called. “A tour guide is supposed to stay with the person she’s guiding.”
“And the group is supposed to keep up.” She headed down the middle of the beach.
“Where’re we going?” he asked, catching up.
“This is the best way to see things otherwise we’ll always be fighting the crowd.”
They walked through the sand until they got about halfway to the stage and she stopped.
“This is part of the state park area.” She swept her hand around. “I guess you’ve seen it when it is empty. That over there...” she pointed “...is the Beach Hut. The wildest place on the beach. They have mini-concerts and dancing all the time.”
“Do you go often?”
Her head whirled and she glared at him. He was serious. “I do not.”
“You’ve never been?”
She shook her head. That had been more Kelsey’s scene. They were as different as daylight and darkness but Kelsey loved her dearly. Missed her daily. Wished they had the relationship that they had once had as girls.
His look was one of pure disbelief. “Not once? Didn’t sneak in as a teen?”
“No.” That had been Kelsey’s specialty. Thank goodness she hadn’t gotten caught. It would have killed her parents.
“Well, well.” He pursed his lips and moved his chin up and down.
“Just what does that mean?”
“It means that I thought you might be a goody two-shoes and you have just confirmed it.”
Compared to him, she probably was. He struck her as someone who went after a good time, and she was the one who found a peaceful evening at home exciting. Kelsey would like him. “Someone needed to be the good kid in my family.”
